Claude Lefèbvre

Claude Lefèbvre
(self-portrait, c. 1663)

Claude Lefèbvre (12 September 1632 (baptised) - 25 April 1675) was a French painter and engraver.[1]

Early life and training

Lefèbvre was born at Fontainebleau, the son of the painter Jean Lefèbvre (1600–1675), and became a member of the workshop of Claude d'Hoey (1585–1660) at Fontainebleau. In 1654 he studied with Eustache Le Sueur in Paris, and after Le Sueur's death in 1655, with Charles Le Brun. Under Le Brun he probably assisted in the preparation of cartoons (untraced) for the tapestry series History of the King (Château of Versailles) and painted a Nativity (untraced) for Louis XIV, but Le Brun found Lefèbvre's compositions poor and encouraged him to specialize in portraiture.[1]

Career

Portrait of Colbert, 1666

Lefèbvre soon established himself as a leading portrait artist, and in 1663, at the age of thirty, he was received (reçu) as a member of the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture in anticipation of his portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Château of Versailles).[1] Lefèbvre spent several years creating the portrait and finally presented it on 30 October 1666.[2] He was an assistant professor at the Académie beginning in 1664.[1] Among his students were François de Troy[3] and Jean Cotelle, le jeune.[4]

Lefebvre visited England, where he appears to have been influenced by the work of Anthony van Dyck.[5] In London he was invited to paint at the court of King Charles II of England. His work is included in major collections such as the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Louvre.[6]

Charles Couperin and the painter's daughter, c. 1665–1670

At the peak of his career, at the Salon of 1673, he presented ten pictures, of which nine were portraits. Few of Lefèbvre's paintings have survived, and many are known only from engravings by artists such as Gérard Edelinck, Nicolas de Poilly, and Pierre-Louis van Schuppen. Based on the evidence from engravings, several paintings have been attributed to Lefèbvre, including the portrait of Charles Couperin with the Artists's Daughter (Château of Versailles).[1]

Lefèbvre was also an engraver. His engravings include a Self-portrait and a portrait of Alexandre Boudan.[1][5]

Claude Lefèbvre died in Paris. He is sometimes confused with Rolland Lefèbvre, a portrait painter who died in London in 1677.[1][7]

Works

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Brême 1996, p. 65.
  2. ↑ Melet-Sanson 1983, p. 486.
  3. ↑ Réunion des sociétés des Beaux-Arts, vol. 17, p. 631; Robert-Dumesnil, Alexandre Pierre F., Le peintre-graveur français, ou Catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'ecole française, vol. 7 (1844) p. 337 online at books.google.com (accessed 16 February 2008).
  4. ↑ Lefebvre, Claude at the Union LIst of Artist Names Online (Getty Research Institute).
  5. 1 2 "Self-portrait by Claude Lefèbvre" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  6. ↑ Lefebvre, Claude (Fontainebleau, 1633 - Paris, 1675) at artoftheprint.com (accessed 15 February 2008)
  7. ↑ See Commons:Category:Rolland Lefebvre.

Sources

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